Download Cancer and heart disease - leading causes of insurance claims

Cancer and heart disease: leading causes of insurance claims
It’s no secret that our modern day lifestyles are bad for our health and statistics released by
Hollard Life seem to confirm this. Heart disease and cancer are by far the leading causes of all
claims across critical illness, death and disability income benefits, followed by vehicle accidents
and stroke. (Based on claims Hollard Life claim stats June-Dec 2014)
Their claims statistics show:
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42% of all the claims they received between June and December last year were due to
heart disease.
Heart disease and stroke – generally thought to be something only middle-aged men
need to worry about – are becoming more and more common in women. Heart
disease and stroke claims made by both men and women were mostly for those
between the ages of 41 and 50.
The second leading claims cause across all benefits was cancer at 20%.
Prostate, breast, colon and metastatic cancers were the most common cancers
claimed for during the period.
“We are also seeing a sharp increase in the number of claims for early or ‘stage 0’ cancer. This is
when the cancer is localised and hasn’t spread to surrounding tissue, or it’s pre-malignant, which
means the cells are abnormal, but not yet cancerous. The increase in early cancer claims
suggests that South Africans are being more proactive about detecting and treating cancer
early, which in turn means a greater chance of more successful and less invasive treatments,”
explains Susan Gonnermann, claims manager at Hollard Life.
The scary thing is that many illnesses like heart disease and certain cancers can be prevented just
by adopting a healthy lifestyle. The best defence is knowing your family history, taking positive
steps to reduce your health risks and having a financial plan in place in case you do ever have to
face one of these serious illnesses.
This is what you need to know to make sure that your tomorrow is secured, so you can live your
today to the fullest:
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Apply for life, disability and critical illness cover while you’re young and healthy. Statistics
show that many diseases are being diagnosed at much younger ages than ever before.
The cost of insurance products increase as you get older so the sooner you get cover the
better.
You also need to apply for cover when you’re younger because this is the most productive
time of your life, when you are most reliant on your income to meet financial obligations
and take care of your growing family.
It’s important to get cover when you’re healthy because many insurers apply exclusions to
pre-existing conditions. What this means is that they won’t pay a claim if it is related to an
illness or other medical condition that you already had when you applied for cover.
Don’t assume that everything is covered! Chances are that if you have critical illness cover
(even comprehensive cover), it won’t cover you for early cancer because most policies
only cover cancer from stage 1 and upwards. You may have medical aid, but many of
the costs related to early stage screening and treatment may not be fully covered.
Hollard’s Early Cancer Cover, an industry first, covers you for stage 0 cancer and can be
added to your critical illness cover. Speak to your advisor and make sure you know exactly
what you are covered for.
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Keep your cover up to date by meeting your advisor every year, or as soon as your
circumstances change. Big life changes like getting married or having a child have a big
effect on your financial situation.
No one knows what the future holds but having a financial plan in place means you can live your
today to the fullest knowing that, no matter what life throws at you tomorrow, you’re covered.
Ends...
Issued by:
Teresa Settas
Teresa Settas Communications
(011) 894 2767 or [email protected]
Date:
July 2015